UK property tax for overseas investors.

Stamp duty when you buy

Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) applies when you buy property in England or Northern Ireland. Scotland and Wales have their own taxes, which this guide doesn't cover. The return and the tax are due within 14 days of completion, and your solicitor usually handles both.

If you live abroad, you may pay two surcharges on top of the standard rates. Each one is added to every band of the price, and they stack.

• Higher rates for additional properties, 5%. You usually pay these if the new home won't be the only residential property worth £40,000 or more that you own, or part own, anywhere in the world. A home in the country where you live counts.
• Non-resident surcharge, 2%. It has applied since 1 April 2021. As an individual, you're non-resident for SDLT if you weren't in the UK for at least 183 days in the 12 months before the purchase.

A company buying a home pays the 5% surcharge whatever else it owns, plus 2% if it's non-resident for SDLT. A UK company controlled from abroad can count as non-resident. Above £500,000, a flat 17% rate can apply instead, or 19% with the non-resident surcharge, unless a relief applies, for example for a property rental business.

Worked example · £300,000 additional home in England	Stamp duty
UK resident buyer	£20,000
Non-resident buyer	£26,000

The figures use the GOV.UK rates, checked on 5 October 2026. Your solicitor confirms which rates apply to your purchase. Our investor calculator shows the band-by-band working for any price, and stamp duty for overseas buyers goes into more detail.

Tax on rent: the Non-Resident Landlord Scheme

If you live abroad for 6 months or more a year, HMRC treats you as a non-resident landlord. That's a different test from the stamp duty one, so check each on its own.

Under the scheme, your letting agent deducts basic rate tax from your rent, after any allowable expenses they've paid, and pays it to HMRC each quarter. If you don't use an agent and your tenant pays more than £100 a week, the tenant has to deduct it.

You can apply to HMRC to receive your rent with no tax taken off. Individuals use form NRL1, companies NRL2 and trusts NRL3. HMRC refuses the application if your UK taxes aren't up to date.

Either way, you still declare the rent on a Self Assessment return each year, unless HMRC tells you not to.

Some non-residents can claim the Personal Allowance, which is £12,570 in 2026 to 2027. You qualify if you're a British citizen, a citizen of a European Economic Area country, or worked for the UK government during the tax year. A double taxation agreement between the UK and your country can also give it to you.

New property income rates from April 2027

In 2026 to 2027, rental profit is taxed at the main Income Tax rates for England, Wales and Northern Ireland: 20%, 40% and 45%. From 6 April 2027, property income gets its own rates. For 2027 to 2028 they're 22%, 42% and 47%, set by Finance Act 2026, which became law on 18 March 2026.

These rates apply to taxpayers in England and Northern Ireland, and to anyone who isn't UK resident, because only UK residents can be Scottish or Welsh taxpayers. The Act also lets the Scottish Parliament and the Senedd set their own property rates for their taxpayers from 2027 to 2028.

HMRC's technical note of 26 November 2025 sets out three details that matter to landlords abroad:

• Your Personal Allowance and other reliefs are set against your other income first, and against property income only after that.
• Relief for mortgage interest on homes stays a tax reduction at the basic rate, which for property becomes 22%.
• The Non-Resident Landlord Scheme will deduct tax at the property basic rate of 22%, not 20%.

Tax on £10,000 of rental profit in the basic rate band	Tax
2026 to 2027, at 20%	£2,000
2027 to 2028, at 22%	£2,200

These are income tax rates. A company that isn't UK resident pays Corporation Tax on its UK rental profits instead, and has done since 6 April 2020. Our article on property income tax from 2027 covers the change in full.

Capital Gains Tax when you sell

Non-residents have paid UK tax on gains from UK homes since April 2015, and on all UK land and property since April 2019.

You must report each sale to HMRC within 60 days of completion, through the online Capital Gains Tax on UK property account. You report even if there's no tax to pay or you made a loss. Any tax due is paid within the same 60 days.

For individuals, the rates in 2026 to 2027 are 18% and 24%. Which one applies depends on your income taxable in the UK, worked out the same way as for a UK resident. You can usually set the annual tax-free allowance against the gain, which is £3,000 in 2026 to 2027. Trustees pay 24%. A company that isn't UK resident pays Corporation Tax on the gain instead, and reports it on a Corporation Tax return.

You can deduct buying and selling costs, and the cost of improvements. If you owned a home before 6 April 2015, you can work out the gain from its market value on 5 April 2015, so only the gain since then is taxed. If you use that value, only improvements made after that date count. HMRC allows three methods, and your accountant can compare them.

If you're planning a sale, selling a UK property from overseas walks through the steps, and refinancing or selling explains how we handle it with partner agents and solicitors.

Who advises you

Your UK tax depends on where you're resident, your other income and how the country you live in taxes UK income. This guide doesn't cover Inheritance Tax, which your accountant can explain.

We don't give tax advice. When you buy from overseas with us, we introduce you to independent accountants and solicitors who advise you, and we keep the purchase moving. To see the figures before tax, try the calculator.